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There is no issue that has come up in my mind over the past few years, and no issue that I find more perplexing, than the issue of unity and truth. Everyone agrees that church unity is important. Everyone agrees that being true to Scripture is important. Everyone likes the saying: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.” But no one can agree which are which.

We need fences for our faith, but which fences do we need and where do we put them? Ask that question to a hundred different Christians and you’ll get 30 different answers, which doesn’t mean the question is pointless. It means what it means. One person’s gray area is another person’s immorality. And one person’s courageous conviction is another person’s misplaced stubbornness. The answer is not to say there are no answers, nor is it to pretend that I have the holy middle ground that avoids everyone else’s mistakes. The answer is…well, I’m not sure.

On the one hand, I am a part of a mainline denomination that is far too tolerant of doctrinal deviation. So I know what it feels like to be wary of unity talk. I understand why the “let’s just agree to disagree” slogan makes people nervous. I don’t think we can just agree to disagree about homosexuality or the uniqueness of Christ or penal substitution. Christ does not want us to tolerate every error. When he prayed for unity in John 17, I don’t think he had in mind unity with those who would disbelieve in his resurrection, or marginalize his cross, or minimize the power of the Holy Spirit to change us. Not everyone who goes by the name of Christian is deserving of the name.

But, on the other hand, I am greatly encouraged by new movements like the Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel that major on the majors and bring together leaders who share much more in common than they hold in distinction. To object to these movements for fear of watering down the truth is, in my opinion, misguided. For they exult in a lot of truth and, it seems to me, the most important truths at that. Some issues were not meant to divide us. Some issues are not as important as others. Not everyone outside our circles or confessional tradition is deserving of reproach. We always want to understand the word of God rightly, but coming to a right understanding of the word of God is more crucial in some areas than others.

The general principle is not hard to grasp: we can’t budge on some issues, but on other issues we can allow for differences. Almost everyone admits this, at least in principle. Virtually every Christian, no matter how liberal, has some beliefs that are non-negotiable, be it the love of God or the evil of racism or God’s concern for the poor. And virtually every Christian, no matter how conservative, puts some issues in the “ok to disagree on” category, be it the circumstances of the worship service, the use of cloth diapers, or the interpretation of the “Nephilim.” There simply is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question of unity and truth. Sometimes the answer is to be inflexible and uncompromising. Other times the answer is to be understanding and accommodating. Yes, the slope is slippery on both sides.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I’m not going to attempt a ranking of all theological issues from most important to least important. Instead, I’d like to see what we can learn from other wise, godly men who have thought through these issues. As much as possible, I’m want to let the authors speak for themselves. This means I may not agree with everything I present, but perhaps in trying to honestly understand how others have thought about this issue, I will get wiser myself. And I have a lot of room for wisdom in this area, because there are a lot of questions I do not have figured out.

I imagine this will be an on-again off-again blog series that will occupy my blogging thoughts for some time. So hopefully my readers will be patient and even benefit from the pondering.

First up, tomorrow: Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ essay “What is an Evangelical?”

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